App Reportedly Screens for Skin Cancer Almost as Accurately as Specialist Dermatologists

The word on the street is that the next iPhone and iOS 8 will boast a heavy emphasis on health, but a new report from the University of Houston (via 9to5Mac) shows that you achieve some impressive medical feats with the existing models. According to the study, a researcher from the university developed an app that can detect melanoma with an accuracy rate of 85 percent based on early tests.

That's reportedly the accuracy rate that's more or less standard for dermatologists who specialize in the detection of the deadly form of skin cancer, and it's substantially higher than the rate for primary doctors. Called DermoScreen, the app itself was created by George Zouridakis, a professor of engineering technology at the university.

Unfortunately, you'll need more than the app to identify the affliction as DermoScreen requires a $500 dermoscope, a magnifying lens, and light to work properly. If you can work around those hurdles, however, using the app is simply a matter of attaching the apparatus to the back of your phone and taking a photo of a threatening mole or lesion. The device can then determine whether the mole is cancerous within a matter of seconds.

That's important since melanoma is responsible for around three-fourths of all deaths from skin cancer. It can quickly get out of control if it's not caught at an early stage, but treatment reportedly has a high success rate if it's caught early. Apps like this could put the relevant technology into the hands of a wider range of doctors, which could especially be helpful for citizens of rural areas.

The app is currently undergoing further testing at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. 9to5Mac notes that a similar form of iPhone-based technology was developed for eye doctors back in March, replacing tens of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment with a $90 iPhone accessory.